Laura Gibson – If You Come to Greet Me

 

One of Hush Records’ strongest releases of late is Laura Gibson’s If You Come To Greet Me, her debut full-length. This is a fine collection of voice-and-nylon-stringed-guitar-based songs, but it’s Gibson’s delivery that consistently bowls over. Gibson pulls every last sweetness from her simple, unpretentious song constructions and melodies. Her sense of vocal cadence and dynamics far outreaches those of her Indy-folk peers–its delicateness and sensitivity, if not style, recalls more a skilled Jazz vocalist. Lyrics are at once reflective, tactile, poignant, melancholic, and often nostalgic (don’t worry, the nostalgia comes off as honest, not overly premeditated). A snippet from “This Is Not The End”: “I had forgotten how light reflects on water. In your hand, flowers held, thin red ribbon tied around. Forget about the end.” The overall effect of music and lyrics combined tends toward a sort of heartbreaking sweetness.

The most important thing in recording/producing someone like Gibson has to be to avoid treading too heavily, to apprehend fully what’s already there. But this is no easy task, and Adam Selzer of Type Foundry Studios pulls it off commendably. Gibson’s voice is kept in its own element, a sort of performed-for-three-good-friends-in-your-living-room-late-at-night-after-all-the-mere-acquaintances-have-left element. Her nylon string finger-picking is allowed to be its slightly clumsy self, and to charming effect.

I find myself mildly irked by some of the banjo and bowed saw accompaniments–as much as I’m all about this sort of thing in principle. That said, the arrangements and performances of Peter Broderick and company are consistently strong, and in keeping with Gibson’s gifted touch. The piano and string accompaniments heard on track one, “This Is Not The End,” and the final track, “The Longest Day,” are masterful. There’s plenty more of this good stuff on the tracks between.

Mica Rapstine

 

Laura Gibson – “Hands in Pockets” Mp3

Laura Gibson – “Wintering” Mp3

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